Case Number 25185: Small Claims Court

6 DEGREES OF HELL

The Charge

Hell breaks loose.

The Case

Let's just cut to the chase: 6 Degrees of Hell is an incomprehensible
stew of a low-budget horror movie. While there are a few standard-issue scares
for genre fans, the dull and confusing run-up, plus poorly drawn characters,
drains the life out of this early on.

6 Degrees of Hell tells the story of a haunted house amusement
attraction that might actually be haunted. Except, when it doesn't. Then, it
tells the story of a young woman who has psychic powers. Except, when it
doesn't. Then, it tells the story of another young woman who was murdered a few
years before, and whose brother now has a Ghost Hunters-style TV show.
Except when it doesn't. Then, it tells a story about some kind of demonic
possession that seems to be randomly afflicting some random people.
Except...

So, yes, there are a whole bunch of plot threads floating around the film,
and threads within those threads (possibly cursed artifacts being displayed in
the haunted house, meddlesome police officers, some guy's problems with his
parents, stuff like that). Now, if any one or two of these plots had been better
developed, 6 Degrees of Hell might have been a fun and interesting little
low-budgeter; instead, it's just a slog. Yes, everything interconnects at the
end (thus, the how-'90s "6 Degrees" of the title), but the big reveal
-- which shamelessly rips off Lucio Fulci -- is a big letdown, and the actual
interconnecting overall pretty clumsy.

Director Joe Raffa (You'll Know My Name) -- who acts and is listed as
a producer -- has little success making the script by Harrison Smith (also a
producer) flow. Scenes skip around gracelessly, with flashbacks bleeding into
flashbacks bleeding into dream sequences. Ideas are put out and then abandoned,
character relationships are a little hard to figure out (I thought the psychic
girl was the sister of some guy until later, when they had sex), and despite the
obvious care that went into the production, the whole thing ends up feeling
slapdash. By the time the film hits its big and protracted finale, which
naturally ups the gore ante, it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on
besides some pretty routine (and really silly) slicing and dicing.

The acting is pretty mediocre, on par with the script. Most of the actors
have had small roles in other films, and many have worked with Raffa and Smith
on previous projects. There are also two "names" here. First is Jill
Whelan, who played Captain Stubing's daughter on The Love Boat for
several seasons; in this film, she gets about three minutes of screen time and
spends virtually all of it staring into space.

The other "name" is more problematic. It's Corey Feldman! And he's
in a role that does nothing but add more insignificant footage to a film already
overflowing with insignificant footage! OK, this one's not Feldman's fault
(though I wonder whose idea it was for him to dye his hair yellow with a
scraggly brown strand running down his face like a festering wound and smoke an
electronic cigarette). Feldman plays a paranormal investigator interviewing a
police officer about the horrific events of the film; presumably, this interview
takes place after the horrific events, so the officer tells the story and we see
it unfold. Only we really don't, and there are plenty of things that happen in
the film that the officer couldn't know about. It's a silly, extraneous device
that does nothing except further muddy the already murky waters. My guess is
that someone got Feldman to sign on for a day's work, and they came up with this
just to say they had him.

While the film is pretty slipshod, the disc from Breaking Glass is pretty
good, with solid video and audio, plus a full slate of supplements, including a
"making of," footage from the premiere, an interview with Feldman,
some featurettes on the real Hotel of Horror in Saylorsburg, PA, a photo
gallery, and promos and trailers.

The Verdict

As a marketing tool for the Hotel of Horror, this is a great piece; a
film...meh.